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researchers to view information processing as it occurs in the brain, because the processing
causes the involved area of the brain to increase metabolism and show up on the scan. We have
already discussed the use of one neuroimaging technique, functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), in the research focus earlier in this section, and we will discuss the use of
neuroimaging techniques in many areas of psychology in the chapters to follow.
Social-Cultural Psychology
A final school, which takes a higher level of analysis and which has had substantial impact on
psychology, can be broadly referred to as the social-cultural approach. The field of social-
cultural psychology is the study of how the social situations and the cultures in which people find
themselves influence thinking and behavior. Social-cultural psychologists are particularly
concerned with how people perceive themselves and others, and how people influence each
other’s behavior. For instance, social psychologists have found that we are attracted to others
who are similar to us in terms of attitudes and interests (Byrne, 1969), [20] that we develop our
own beliefs and attitudes by comparing our opinions to those of others (Festinger, 1954), [21] and
that we frequently change our beliefs and behaviors to be similar to those of the people we care
about—a process known as conformity.
An important aspect of social-cultural psychology are social norms—the ways of thinking,
feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and perceived by them as
appropriate (Asch, 1952; Cialdini, 1993). [22] Norms include customs, traditions, standards, and
rules, as well as the general values of the group. Many of the most important social norms are
determined by theculture in which we live, and these cultures are studied by cross-cultural
psychologists. A culture represents the common set of social norms, including religious and
family values and other moral beliefs, shared by the people who live in a geographical
region (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998; Markus, Kitayama, & Heiman, 1996;
Matsumoto, 2001). [23] Cultures influence every aspect of our lives, and it is not inappropriate to
say that our culture defines our lives just as much as does our evolutionary experience (Mesoudi,
2009). [24]